Chapter 72 entanglement

In 1931, Xiao Qian interviewed Shen Congwen. When he first met Shen, he invited him to a restaurant. When he saw Shen writing down the name of the dishes he ordered on a piece of paper with a brush, he asked to leave the paper to him.Shen Congwen said: "Why do you want it? I will write you a long letter in the future." After that, Xiao Qian did receive many long letters from Shen Congwen, who taught at Qingdao University. Xiao Qian embarked on the road of literature under the guidance of Shen Congwen. Shen Congwen helped him revise his exercises and introduced him to Ta Kung Pao together with Yang Zhensheng. During the eight months when Xiao Qian was unemployed, Shen Congwen and Yang Zhensheng helped him and sent him monthly Give him 50 yuan.Xiao Qian said: "Shen Congwen was my first literary teacher, and he was very kind to me."

Shen Congwen was very strict with Xiao Qian, asking him to polish a novel after he had written it, and told him: "Writing is like paint, it is dead in itself, and it will come to life if you know how to use it. Painting requires color and you need to be able to manipulate color. A Writers don't pay attention to words, don't understand the magic of words, and even if they have good thoughts, they can't express such good thoughts." Before and after liberation, Shen Congwen collapsed for a while, and Xiao Qian visited Shen's family many times to visit his mentor, reminisce about the old days, and comfort Shen Congwen.But the pair of master and apprentice went on different paths.At this time, Xiao Qian suddenly "turned" and moved closer to the Communist Party and the people; while Shen chose to study cultural relics.Shen Congwen was very dissatisfied with Xiao Qian and often commented on him in his letters.Su Zhongxiang, who has been in touch with the Shen family for a long time, said that "in the course of time", Shen "had some new impressions and feelings about Xiao Qian. This kind of impressions and feelings had already occurred as early as the 1940s and 1950s, which made Shen start There is a feeling of 'he is always an inappropriate person'".

Xiao Qian recalled that at a criticism meeting of the "Anti-Rightist" Chinese Federation, Shen Congwen said that Xiao Qian had already colluded with US imperialism in 1929.Xiao Qian was very angry at what Shen Ru said, but when he thought of Shen's kindness to him, and felt that Shen was protecting himself, he stopped thinking about it too much. Xiao Qian recalled in "My Teacher Shen Congwen": "In February 1973, I asked for leave from the cadre school and went back to Beijing for medical treatment. By the way, I ran around to solve my housing problem. . . . Mr. Shen lives at the entrance of Dongtangzi Hutong. The traffic chaos made me constantly worry about the safety of the elderly, so while I was running about my own housing problem, I also frequently appealed for him. One day in 1975, at work On the way, I met Zhang Zhaohe. I told her about it face to face. A few days later, I met Teacher Shen himself at the east entrance of Dongtangzi Hutong. I got out of the car and greeted him. Unexpectedly, he said to me in a stern voice : "I don't need you to ask about my housing. You know, I still have to apply to join the party." After that, he turned around and left." Xiao Qian said: "I think his intention is nothing more than to persuade me to take off my hat. Rightists 'mind his own business."

Two weeks before Shen Congwen's death, Li Hui persuaded him to reconcile with Xiao Qian, and asked him: "If he (Xiao Qian) came to see you, would you drive him away?" What is he doing?" Li didn't discuss it with Xiao Qian, but he knew that Xiao Qian would be willing to reconcile with the teacher, so he immediately made an appointment with Shen that he would come to see Shen with Xiao Qian after he finished the pen meeting from Sichuan.But when Li Hui returned to Beijing after the meeting, Shen Congwen had already passed away. Two days after Shen Congwen's death, Xiao Qian wrote his eulogy "Unforgettable with No Teeth" and published it on Taiwan's "China Times", showing his deep memory and sincere gratitude to the teacher.He said: "He was one of my mentors and he was the first person (in 1930) to lead me on the road of literature and art.... I hope that honest critics and scholars will conduct careful research on Mr. Congwen's rich works in his life, and make contributions. Fair assessment."

From the "May 4th" era until the establishment of the "Leftist League", Hu Yepin, Ding Ling, and Shen Congwen had a close relationship. They lived together in Beijing and Shanghai.Ding Ling and Hu Ye frequently quarreled, and Shen Congwen tried to persuade them; when Ding Ling received the manuscript fee for the first time in Shanghai, she asked Shen to go shopping for silk stockings on Nanjing Road with her; Magazine, so that it was satirized by the tabloids as a "love triangle".Before Hu Yefan was arrested, Shen Congwen went to Shanghai from Wuhan to visit him. Seeing that it was cold and Hu was only wearing single clothes, he lent Hu Yuhan his new tiger down robe.Hou Hu was wearing this robe when he was arrested frequently.

After Hu Yepin was arrested, in order not to worry Ding Ling's mother, Shen Congwen wrote to Ding Ling's mother in the name of Hu Yepin.Shen asked Hu Shi and Xu Zhimo for help many times, and wrote letters to Cai Yuanpei, Yang Xingfo and others in Nanjing, hoping to release Hu on bail through them; he also went to Nanjing to ask Chen Lifu for help.For Hu Yepin's sake, Shen Congwen frequently traveled between Shanghai and Nanjing more than ten times.Once, he took a letter from Cai Yuanpei to Zhang Qun, the mayor of Shanghai at the time, but in the end he returned without success.After Hu Yepin died, Shen Congwen risked his life in the name of "husband" to accompany Ding Ling back to Hunan, and handed Hu Yepin and Ding Ling's children to Ding Ling's mother to raise them.

In 1933, Ding Ling disappeared (it was only found out after a long time that she was arrested). Shen Congwen appealed and inquired in many ways, and wrote an article to remind all parties to pay attention to this matter.Not long after it was misrepresented that Ding Ling had been killed, Shen Congwen wrote "Remembering Ding Ling" with 110,000 words in grief and indignation.After learning that Ding Ling was under house arrest in Nanjing by the Kuomintang, Shen Congwen heard the news, brought his newlywed wife Zhang Zhaohe and a photo of Ding Ling's son to visit Ding Ling, and wrote articles such as "Ms. Ding Ling Arrested" and "Ms. Ding Ling's Disappearance".At the same time, he, Cai Yuanpei, Yang Xingfo, Hu Yuzhi, Ye Shengtao, Yu Dafu and other 38 cultural celebrities jointly called the Nanjing government to request the release of Ding Ling and Pan Hannian.From Hu Shi's diary, it can also be seen that Shen Congwen asked Hu Shi for help many times, asking Hu to rescue Ding Ling.

In 1946, Shen Congwen, who returned to Beijing, vaguely heard Ding Ling criticize him for being "out of touch with the people", but he didn't think Ding Ling was targeting him, because Ding had said so about him in the 1930s. In June 1949, struggling in pain and fear, Shen Congwen finally looked forward to Ding Ling's return to Beijing. He believed that only Ding Ling could clarify the "misunderstanding" between him and the Communist Party.He took his 12-year-old son Shen Huchu to visit Ding Ling.Shen Huchu recalled: "Dad held my hand and was silent all the way. I understand his excitement and expectation. ... The warm room (Shen Huchu recalled that the meeting was in winter, but according to the researcher's research, it should be in summer) was sunny, and I saw my father blooming The smiling face, with a little sluggish and sickly face...

When I came back, I kept wondering that this reunion of old friends who had been separated for twelve years was not at all what I thought.It's like being politely received by an acquaintance. Could it be that those fond memories of parents are all childish illusions?The indifference in that warm room is embedded in my memory and can never be erased. " Shen Congwen also expressed his dissatisfaction with Ding Ling in a letter to his friends: "Friends who have known each other for 30 years will not only become strangers, but even become alienated from alienation." But when Shen was in trouble, he still borrowed money from Ding Ling. . In 1952, when Shen Congwen filled out the "Museum Staff Confession of Social Relationship Form", he listed Ding Ling as a friend with "good friendship".

Lin Jinlan recalled a small incident: in 1960, he met Shen and Ding at a fellowship of writers during the third literary conference in 1960.At that time, many people did not talk to Ding Ling, making her look lonely.Only a few greetings from Lao She made her look extra excited.Shen Congwen sat in the corner and did not speak as usual.But after the meeting, when Ding Ling was waiting for the bus, Shen Congwen rushed over. Lin was inconvenient to get too close to the two of them, so he didn't know what they were talking about. Shen looked at Ding Ling with a smile on his face, and talked about something enthusiastically .Ding Ling kept a straight face and looked away from time to time, ignoring the excitement of talking with Lao She, as if she was not willing to talk to Shen Congwen.Later, Shen Congwen left the station alone and walked home.

In 1980, Ding Ling published the article "Yepin and Revolution", in which she claimed that she had finally read Shen Congwen's two articles "Remember Hu Yepin" and "Remember Ding Ling" four or five months ago. She wrote: "The author is in When the book mentions the relationship between Hu Yepin and me and the revolution, it has no scruples and writes randomly... Similar nonsense, endless, not only exposes the author's ignorance and ruthlessness about the revolution..." He even abused Shen as " A coward who is greedy for life and afraid of death, a philistine who cares about personal gains and losses." Ding Ling said: "After I was arrested, Shen Congwen came to Changde one year. Two literary youths who were also his admirers went to see him and told him that my mother was in Changde and asked him if he wanted to visit. He said he had no time. No, I won’t go. These two young men were very angry and told my mother the truth, thinking that he was not enough friends. After my mother told me this situation, I was also very angry. What kind of friend are these? On the eve of the founding of the People’s Republic of China, I returned to Beijing. Comrade Xuefeng told me that after I was arrested, he approached Shen Congwen and begged him to come forward to bail me out. He intervened in this matter. This shows that Shen Congwen was terribly afraid. And he wrote "Remembering Ding Ling", as if he had a deep friendship with me, and he was a pure hypocrite. After these two incidents, I really don't want to talk to him anymore. However, I went to see him with Chen Ming. At that time, he was very scared. We told him: The Communist Party will not kill you, what are you afraid of?" Wu Taichang recalled that after Ding Ling's article appeared in the newspaper, Shao Yanxiang, Shen Congwen's student and director of the editorial department of "Poetry", asked Wu to tell Shen to write an article to refute it.After Wu told Shao's words, Shen's expression was serious and somewhat depressed, while Zhang Zhaohe said excitedly: "There is nothing to say, nothing to write." In 1981, Ding Ling gave a speech at the Hunan Federation of Literary and Art Circles, saying that Shen Congwen was a reactionary writer. Shen’s student Wang Yarong was very angry and wanted to write an article to refute. I have suffered a lot." Until his death, Shen Congwen did not write an article to defend himself. Wang Yarong recalled that when Fan Zeng graduated from the Central Academy of Fine Arts, because he offended Ye Qianyu, the director of the traditional Chinese painting department, his graduation assignment was sent to the border village. He asked someone to bring a letter to Shen Congwen, asking Shen for help.For Fan's sake, Shen, who never asked for help, approached Zhu Dan and Ye Qianyu, the deans of the Academy of Fine Arts, to plead, but failed. So he borrowed Premier Zhou Enlai's instruction on the clothing catalog project, and transferred Fan Zeng to his side to assist him in his work. Fan Zeng was able to stay in Beijing. After the Cultural Revolution began, Fan Zeng, who was Shen Congwen's assistant, wrote big-character posters to expose Shen.Fan said to Shen: "There are pustules on the head, it's rotten. Write pornographic novels and have pornographic dance parties." After reading it, Shen said eight words: "It was very painful, and it was a huge shock." Shen Congwen wrote in "Statement One - A Big Character Poster": "Fan Zeng exposed that I was the most provocative to the masses... Said that Ding Ling, Xiao Qian, Huang Miaozi, etc., were frequent guests in my family, and they came to play jazz Music is like a small Petofi club. In fact...my family...there are very few guests, except for a few relatives, I rarely interact with people at all. Fan Zeng and his wife came most often, borrowing books from me Mainly only you and your wife...Even so, I am still very grateful to Comrade Fan Zeng, because he educated me to be more sensible, what is 'benefiting others at the expense of others', it seems to be one of the gains." Although the big-character posters made Shen Congwen dissatisfied with Fan Zeng, it was an event at the end of the Cultural Revolution that directly led to the estrangement between the two. In the summer of 1975, Shen Congwen took Wang Yarong to the History Museum. At that time, Fan Zeng was painting a portrait of Zhuge Liang. When he saw Shen coming in, he was silent.Shen Congwen told him not to copy according to the textbook, because the scarf on it is not quite right, let him study the style of the scarf.Unexpectedly, Fan "leaned his back on the old sofa, crossed Erlang's legs and shook up and down, pointed at Mr. Shen with his left hand holding a cigarette, and said, "Don't point and point here, your method won't work anymore!" A rebellious look.His face was flushed with anger, and his hands trembled slightly. The memories of Huang Nengfu and Chen Juanjuan are slightly different. They remember that it was winter, and Fan Zeng painted a portrait of Qu Yuan.Shen Congwen walked for an hour to Huang's house in the heavy snow, his eyes were red with anger, and he talked about this incident as soon as he entered the door, saying: "I have never said anything bad about others in my life. If I don't say anything today, I will suffocate to death." During dinner, Shen also said: "Take him with good intentions, and don't recognize anyone." In Shen Congwen's letter to Wang Zengqi, he said that Fan Zeng's painting was Shang Yang, with a bright knife pinned to his waist for discussion.Shen told him kindly: "No, the Qin Dynasty would not have this kind of knife, let alone use this kind of dress to discuss political affairs." Fan Zeng "turned into anger": "You are outdated and have no right to speak. Responsible!" Shen Congwen was so angry that he wrote a letter of severance to Fan Zeng afterwards, enumerating all kinds of things from Fan to the museum and the Cultural Revolution, but it is unknown whether this letter was sent.Later, Shen mentioned this matter in a letter to his student Wang Zengqi, saying that Fan was a modern "Zhongshan wolf". In his later years, Fan Zeng recalled Shen Congwen's kindness of knowing him and was grateful.He said that back then he wrote a letter to Shen, saying that he hoped to work in a history museum.After Shen received the letter, he immediately went through the formalities for him. When encountering obstacles, Shen said that since the government could not pay the salary, he would like to pay Fan himself.Shen and Guo Moruo have old grudges, but knowing that Guo appreciates Fan, they don't complain about Fan because of it.In his autobiography in his later years, Fan Zeng said that writing big-character posters for Shen Congwen during the Cultural Revolution was out of helplessness, and every time he thought about it, he felt ashamed.